The goal of the Sfmf Young Artists program is to stimulate interest in young musicians of middle school and high school age to discover and explore the rich and varied repertoire of the piano duo genre, and to form serious duos with a commitment to refining and perfecting the skills particular to the genre. Sfmf launched the Young Artists’ Concert series in 2006, which was designed to provide opportunities for young piano duos to gain valuable performance experience in preparation for the Junior Festivals associated with the Salkind International Piano Duo Festivals presented at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

The Salkind Junior Festival provides educational links between professional artists, composers and young musicians by creating rich opportunities for youth to discover and perform a wide range of repertoire for the piano duo genre. The Junior Festival is open to young piano duos in grades 6-12 and sfmf Alumni duos to study with the Salkind Festival international artists. Sfmf’s objective is to include emerging young duos (8-10-teams) as full participants in the Salkind International Piano Duo Festival and to broaden the Young Artists’ Program to provide opportunities for artistic cross-cultural exchange. Presented at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the 2-day educational program is scheduled for August 8 and 9, 2014 and will include performances, master classes, seminars, and private coaching sessions in which the selected young pianists will interact and study with the participating Festival artists. The Junior Festival will also present a concert, Salkind Young Performers Concert, which will feature emerging young duos on Saturday, August 9.